JRNL 10 - Hofstra

PROF. VACCARO

WRITING FOR DIGITAL

Today’s roadmap

REMINDER: Blog on your class blog, and tweet notes using #HUJRNL10

On your class blog each entry headline should be formatted like this … “Class Notes: Writing for Digital”

Lecture on writing for the web and digital

Notes about next class

Key Ingredients to Digital Media

Key ingredients to successful digital journalism

Ability to tell a story

Summarizing, quick/succinct pieces

Providing context

Being thorough and comprehensive

Understanding all multimedia elements

Engagement and interactivity with users

Developing content initiatives that go beyond the norm

Traits for a Digital Journalist

Develop strong writing skills

Understand how stories are told on multiple platforms

Be flexible, confident, adaptable, versatile

Find, create and understand complex data sets

Be different, assess the competition and grow

Digital Media Innovation

Keys to being an INNOVATIVE digital journalist

Think critically

Appreciate new ideas and technology

Innovate/teach/connect/relate

Be mobile (your phone is your lifeline/friend/tool)

Think outside-the-box (be different)

Connect the dots (context)

Elements of News

These should never change, no matter what type of medium you are reporting on …

Timeliness

Proximity

Impact

Magnitude

Prominence

Conflict

Novelty

Emotional appeal

Writing Tips

Inverted pyramid

Who, what, where, when, why and how still apply with digital journalism

Short and sweet … no more than 500 words on average, many times 250-400 words if you have multimedia elements, sometimes less; Quick, punchy and to the point, concise and exact

Attribution and sourcing still applies

Tips for writing: mobile

Focus on what users actually need on the move

Cut ruthlessly – but stay instantly understandable

Don’t forget SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Make the user’s journey thorough Related links * Commenting * Sharing *Hyperlinks

Keep the content self contained

Don’t relay on design, but adapt to it when possible Headline length, caption length, etc.

Put a connection/link to your full site on every page If you don’t have a main site, then create a URL to dub content for sharing purposes.

Understanding your audience

You’ll need to know your core demographic before you can begin reporting … you’re niche, the people you are trying to reach most.

You should plan your coverage around the people who are reading your content the most.

Is there room for more content that covers a broader range? Of course, but after repeated times with lower stats/clicks/views, then reassess the content.

Why does the audience matter? Time, energy, budget … don’t put in the resources if they aren’t going to be utilized affectively.

BLOGGING / ENTREPRENEURIAL

JOURNALISM

HOFSTRA UNIVERSITYPROF. VACCARO

JRNL 10

Today’s roadmap

REMINDER: Blog your class notes during lecture

REMINDER: Tweet notes and links to your blog entries. Use #JRNL10

Lecture on blogging, entrepreneurial journalism and more about the business of journalism

Blog vs. Traditional Media

OpinionNo set styleCompletely onlineCitizen journalistsAnyone can do itFree/sustainable

ObjectivityProper stylePrint/online/TVTrained journalistsHired by companyBiz team needed

Popular Blogs

Top blogs on internet:

1. HuffPo (Aol) 2. TMZ 3. Business Insider 4. Gawker 5. Lifehacker 6. Mashable 7. Gizmodo 8. The Daily Beast 9. Perez Hilton 10. Tech Crunch (Aol)

Why are they popular?

• Focus on one subject area

• Packed with information

• Perfect amount of multimedia

• Mix between paid/unpaid writers/editors/bloggers

• “What’s now” content … hip, unique, trendy

Let’s analyze the top five blog sites …

1. HuffPo (Aol)2. TMZ3. Business Insider4. Gawker5. Lifehacker

Analyze the top blogs from list

Blog Basics

More characteristics defining a blog

Unique content, some related to a specific niche

Frequently updated - new content should be at the top

Every entry has a headline/body text and includes hyperlinks

Contains a spot for reader comments/feedback

Blog Basics

San Jose Mercury News added a blog in 1999 and changed journalism

Every newspaper has blogs

Every major newspaper has broken news via their blogs

Every reporter hired now, is asked if they know how to manage/run a blog

What are your favorite blogs?

Tell us your favorites?

Vaccaro Jim Romenesko, journalism industry Hardball Talk / Pro Football Talk (NBC Sports) Islanders Point Blank Let’s Blog it Out (Entourage), Newsday

Creating a blog

Make a plan: editorial/business

Choose a blog system Blogger/Wordpress

Choose a theme/design

Extras/Gadgets/Widgets

Build your audience How? Remember from our second class?

Tips for Bloggers

Organize your ideas

Be direct and to the point

Use appropriate language and style

Be the authority with a personality

Link, summarize and analyze

• Be specific with headlines/tagging

• Post early/post often

• Use images and multimedia elements

• Participate in the community/social network

• Write less and with conviction

Blog Ideas and more specific ideas

News >>>>>Education >>>>>Hot-button issues >>>>>Animals >>>>>HS Football >>>>>Politics >>>>>Hot topics >>>>>History >>>>>

Police/fire newsSachem SchoolsImmigrationPuppies, MorkiesSachem FootballNewsday LI PoliticsCommunity calendar1940’s Europe

Other Blog Creation Tips

Define your competition … who else is writing about this topic?

Who cares about the topic? Will anyone read or see this?

How can I make this a visitor destination?

Live blog and host talk sessions … think outside the editorial box

Planning multimedia

Assess situation for adding multimedia to your story and platform … (could relate to web/mobile/blogs)

Photo galleries

Photo slideshows

Audio

Video

Info graphics

Tips on info layering

You have all this content? How do you place it in nonlinear format on your platform and have it make sense?

Create each element to stand alone

Only include redundancies that are necessary

Avoid editing your ideas in early stages of planning … having too much is not a bad thing, you can always cut down or spread the content out (follow up?). Having too little is a problem.

Assess multimedia potential

Can the story be broken down into several topical chunks?

Does the story describe a process? (Info graphs, video and photo galleries are perfect to displaying a process of events)

Is the story laden with stats and figures? (info graphs and data visualization will help you!)

Is there emotional narrative to be shown? (Video shows action and events as they unfold)

Entrepreneurial Journalism

Let’s apply what we just learned about blogging and microblogging to the following notes on entrepreneurial journalism.

You should know how to build a media platform before trying to build a media brand. They go hand-in-hand, but the work behind the brand is what actually counts for the reporters/editors/journalists.

You need to think and act as a publisher, business development executive in some aspects of journalism. The industry dictates this evolution. You’ll be better off.

Taking advantage of opportunity

How do you open a new product and change the new media frontier?

Engagement: No longer are journalists expected to shout the news from a remote location, they are on the ground with the people. It’s a form of news collaboration, according to Briggs.

Building trust: Being transparent with the audience and giving them what they want in an online medium.

Embracing diversity of voice: You must be open to different view points through different dispersal methods. Fair and balanced with the submersion of new media technologies.

What makes a successful start up?

Quality content pays

Understanding how to do business while being a journalist

Test, test and test some more

Pick a niche and go deep

Target audiences for targeted advertising

Check out the new app economy

Be ethical and stick with it

What makes a successful start up?

Analyze common traits of other successful startups … both positive and negative

Learn how some blogs have grown into big businesses or other mediums like books or magazines

Get inspired by others who have beat the odds

Set your own goals and achieve

Creating revenue models

Syndication: Will other companies pay for your content?

Custom content: Will people log onto your platform and pay for specific content?

Advertising: Will you work with a third-party ad agency to plate your ads on other networks as well?

Elements of Innovation

Ideas do not fall off trees … you need to:

Be creative: envision something that doesn’t exist.

Risk: be willing to go way outside the box if you think it will work. Sometimes it doesn’t.

Hard work: easier said than done sometimes, and very cliché, but you know what it takes to be successful and it doesn’t happen over night in most cases.

How innovation is taught? Business schools have taught innovation through numbers and finance for years, now CUNY offers an entrepreneurial masters program for journalism. You can learn to think like an innovative digital journalist.

Make innovation a strategy

Make a priority

Make failure acceptable

Set goals

Be agile

See innovation as a product

Bring start up culture to the newsroom

Get hired by an older media company with traditional ways? No problem. It’s your turn to shine.

Divide and conquer: Think hyper-local and give authority to more people but in concentrated areas.

We report, you decide: Monthly meetings can be used as a way to report to your team how new projects are working. Good and bad.

Choosing the right technology

You need a platform you understand and can work in

Choose the right host and right theme for the design of your site

Enhance your site with advanced features Event calendars Live blogs Live video Mapping Databases Bulletin boards Social media/bookmarking Email marketing

Assignment No. 1

DUE NEXT CLASS

Prepare an editorial/business plan for a web/blog idea that could be utilized as a real website …

Be prepared to have it done in class and talk about it, along with your classmates, in front of the room live before the class period ends.

Assignment No. 1

Post the business plan to your class blog

Headline: “Assignment No. 1: Biz Plan”

Things to include Blog idea with specific focus? Niche? Who is your demographic? Why? How will you execute on coverage? Types of multimedia you would use How would you staff your company? Hierarchy of workers? None? List at least five types of content you’d include: news articles, commentary, daily

columns, etc. List forms of multimedia to coincide with your coverage

Next up

Assignment No. 1 is due next class

Lecture will be on Digital Photography